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Flat nose vs. v-nose trailer

Discussion in 'Towing & Hauling' started by andrew, Oct 21, 2015.

  1. Oct 21, 2015 at 5:15 PM
    #1
    andrew

    andrew [OP] where's the beer?

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    About to buy a 16x7 trailer. Anyone know of any major difference between the two noses? I know you get an extra 1ft or so in the nose on the V-nose, but not sure if anyone has any comparable expierence for the trailer swaying or gas mileage variance. Leaning towards the V-nose but the flat nose is 400$ cheaper.

    Also, if anyone has any expierence about the brand "look" then feel free to add
     
  2. Oct 21, 2015 at 7:10 PM
    #2
    Relentless

    Relentless Eric @Relentless Fab Vendor

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    I would personally go for the V. Splitting the air in the front will help a lot with drag at highway/freeway speeds, a flat face on an enclosed trailer is a LOT of drag in my experiences. Get into a headwind and you'll notice this a lot with a flat front, you'll feel every gust hit the trailer. Over time you'll probably get the extra cost back in gas mileage savings. :laugh:
     
  3. Oct 21, 2015 at 9:47 PM
    #3
    bobeast

    bobeast really old member

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    V-nose will probably net you better mileage. However, all things being equal, a 16' v-nose will have less usable interior space than a 16' flat-nose.
     
  4. Oct 21, 2015 at 9:55 PM
    #4
    andrew

    andrew [OP] where's the beer?

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    thanks. i've done some research the past few hours on it and unfortunately it seems that most people don't get an increase in gas mileage. i was hoping so for the V to split the air, but they claim most of the drag is from the flat back since the front is already pretty much split by the truck itself. I talked to the salesman and i guess you get little more room from the V-nose since the actual square itself is 7x16, but the extra 2-3 sq ft you get from the V is just a bonus. I did just find a flat nose for almost 1k cheaper than the V-nose i was looking at, so i might just go with that if i can find the time to go 3 hours north to go look at it.
     
  5. Oct 22, 2015 at 7:15 PM
    #5
    1G3-TRD

    1G3-TRD New Member

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    When I purchased my horse trailer I went with a V nose compared to a flat because of the additional space inside especially for the spare tire, and they are also a little more foregiving when maneuvering
     
  6. Oct 23, 2015 at 6:26 PM
    #6
    andrew

    andrew [OP] where's the beer?

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    Picked up the trailer today. Got the flat nose. It cost about 500$ less than the v-nose I was looking at, and they threw in a free spare tire and gave me a free ball-hitch.

    image.jpg image.jpg
     
    1G3-TRD likes this.
  7. Oct 23, 2015 at 7:58 PM
    #7
    1G3-TRD

    1G3-TRD New Member

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    Glad to see you got a pace instead of a look, my dad has had a pace trailer for about 20 years and he uses it pretty frequently and has never had any problems with it. My question is what are you going to haul in that thing?
     
  8. Oct 23, 2015 at 8:15 PM
    #8
    andrew

    andrew [OP] where's the beer?

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    Thanks, I guess "look" owns pace now as of 2010 or so. They seemed pretty identical when I checked them out. It is a more well-known brand though which if I ever resell, it should help.
    I'm moving all my belongings to my parents in Virginia and keeping them in the trailer for a year or so until I buy a house somewhere (not sure where yet) my new job is 90% travel, so I'm going to live out of a hotel when not traveling out of Utah and save up for a house. Essentially a nomad for the next year or two.
    The Military is paying me a bit to move all my stuff myself so I figured in the long run its cheaper to buy one instead of renting a u haul twice and it also saves me 140ish a month on a storage unit
     
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2015
  9. Oct 24, 2015 at 10:48 AM
    #9
    MotoTundra

    MotoTundra The Ocho

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    Hell yeah that's a smart option. How does the Tundra handle that baby?
     
  10. Oct 24, 2015 at 12:43 PM
    #10
    andrew

    andrew [OP] where's the beer?

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    Not bad! I've never really towed more than a small skiff I can tell a pretty good difference. It sits a bit higher than the truck, more than I had expected so you can tell the wind resistance, but it's still got way more than enough power to pass. We'll see how it does loaded up in a week though!
     
  11. Oct 24, 2015 at 2:11 PM
    #11
    andrew

    andrew [OP] where's the beer?

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  12. Oct 24, 2015 at 5:43 PM
    #12
    MotoTundra

    MotoTundra The Ocho

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    That seems to be the #1 pick when it comes to brake controllers.

    Thanks for your service.
     
  13. Oct 24, 2015 at 9:07 PM
    #13
    andrew

    andrew [OP] where's the beer?

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    Thank you!

    It is a bit pricey from what I saw compared to other controllers, but "buy once, cry once" has been the words I've lived by the past few years. Worked out so far!
     
  14. Jan 18, 2016 at 4:54 PM
    #14
    forespeed

    forespeed New Member

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    I have been towing trailers for years. If I could afford one my first priority in a trailer would be aluminum. Less weight will pay you back every mile you drive and you will get it back on resale. Second do whatever is necessary to get the trailer lower than your tow vehicle. That box sticking up above your tow vehicle will cost you at the pump everytime you buy fuel. If you are doing lots of towing, invest in an air deflector. My small deflector on top of the cap over the bed of my Tundra gets me extra 1.5 mpg. Deflectors do not help on top of the cab of a pickup. They need to be within 6-8 ft of the front of the trailer.
    Most important, a "V" nose trailer doesn't increase mpg. They do help with clearance when backing up the trailer. Or, there original design was intended to allow unloading small items from the front of the trailer. The real world experience of a V nose trailer is the wind flows down the side of tow vehicle, then wraps around to the inside behind the hauler and flows directly into the flat side of the V. This air flow is hitting both sides of the V at the same time. That air flow causes instability of the trailer. Ask someone that has been pulling a flat front trailer after they change to a "V" nose and their experience should be that it is harder to adjust the stability of the trailer. Tongue weight should be your friend if the hauler can hold the trailer level or down just a tad in the front. Something that would help even more is using a longer tongue if your hauler can hold the weight. They make extensions for your hitch to move it back from the hauler but, that severely reduces load capacity. I choose the Tundra in 2007 because I needed to pull 10,000# in a comfortable truck. The frame of the Tundra in original condition doesn't hold enough weight at the tongue. I lowered my Tundra, then I found a company in Florida that offered a set of air bags for a lowered Tundra. That was major for my truck. The lowering kit moved the rear axle from under the rear springs to mount it above the springs, there fore conventional air bags did not work.

    So, I always load my car front forward into the trailer but I stop it so that the back door just has room to close. The car sits just about directly over the trailer axles. With the motor in the front of the car that means the weight bias is toward the front of the trailer. I pump the air bags to capacity about 80# When the trailer is set on the hitch it sits almost level. If there is too much weight on the tongue I use my stability bars on the tongue to hitch to raise the load just enough.
    In the end, the factors that cost mpg are height of the trailer, load weight and most important speed of the truck. My max mpg are achieved at 60-62 mph. Trying to drive anywhere over 65 will just kill mpg.
     
    PlatPro likes this.

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